


Circle of Life

by MagicaDraconia16



Series: 2020 Bingos [26]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Minor Violence, Minor bad language, No Dialogue, Period-Typical Homophobia, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02, Sort Of, Time Loop, Trope Bingo Round 15, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28087470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicaDraconia16/pseuds/MagicaDraconia16
Summary: In 1963, Dave Katz meets a strange guy calling himself Klaus for the first time.In 1968, Klaus Hargreeves meets a soldier called Dave for the first time.And, as it happens, they're both meeting the other for the second time.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Series: 2020 Bingos [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634290
Kudos: 39
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fifteen





	Circle of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the **Trope Bingo Round 15:** _I3 - Time Loops_ ... of a sort. 
> 
> Brief mentions of other characters and events from both series 1 and 2, and we're ignoring that little twisty consequence of time-travel that affects Dave.

_Dallas, Texas – 1963_

“Because I love you.”

The words gave Dave Katz an odd, fluttery feeling. Sure, he’d had a couple of girlfriends say it before, but that had just been the usual teen ‘puppy love’, and one had said it so much to everyone that it had lost all meaning.

_This_ time, though, had a weight and gravity to it that was unexpected from someone he’d only seen for the first time the previous day.

The entire encounter was odd. The guy was talking much the same as the rest of the ‘hippies’, as Uncle Brian called them – when he was feeling charitable – but there was something pointed about the way he’d spoken, as if it was a surefire thing he’d had experience of.

As if he knew what was coming.

However, with his Uncle Brian sitting there urging him to “Hit the queer! Hit him!”, it also gave him a squirmy feeling of a different kind.

A panicked kind.

Brian was not alone in his views in their family. His dad was exactly the same – very certain of what made a man a man, and woe betide any who didn’t fit their extremely specific, narrow mould. Men of the Katz family were not inclined to be tolerant.

The trouble was _he_ didn’t think he fitted their mould, although he’d tried his best. He didn’t agree with a lot of what came out of their mouths, but he’d never dare say so.

He thought Brian might have his suspicions, though, as the talk of the army – ‘encouragement’ to enlist – had been growing lately, to the point where it was almost all Brian and his dad talked to him about.

And he knew – “Because I love you—” “Hit him! Hit the queer!” – that some day _very_ soon he was going to have to make a choice.

“And I hope someday you’ll lo—”

He couldn’t make the wrong one.

* * *

_A Shau Valley, Vietnam_ _– 1968_

When the noise woke him, he propped himself on his elbows and wondered if he was still dreaming. Gaping back at him from the floor of the tent was the strange guy who’d called himself a prophet and rattled off things he shouldn’t have known.

Before either of them could say a word, the sergeant called them to action as bombs began to fall.

By the time he managed to catch up with the other man, they were on the bus travelling to their next camp, and the guy looked just as lost as ever. It had been a miracle he came through the attack without getting killed.

His – Klaus’ – actions didn’t get any less peculiar, although he settled in well enough after a few days. He didn’t seem to recognise Dave at all, and mentioning that he’d come to love Dune in the last five years just netted Dave a nod and an absent, “Ya-hah.”

It was as if…

He was meeting Dave for the first time.

Normally, Dave would have laughed at the thought of time travel being real, but this Klaus didn’t even have dogtags for _himself_ , let alone Dave (who’d spent a solid hour staring at his own once he received them).

But as he spent more time with Klaus, got to know him, Dave found himself falling in love. He couldn’t say it – not even when they had their first kiss in the back room of a local disco – but the feeling was there, nonetheless.

How ironic. Klaus had said “I hope someday you’ll—” before Dave had panicked and punched him in the mouth.

And now someday was here, and Dave did.

He thought of going home with Klaus, after the war. Of them settling down somewhere in the country.

This time, he’d make the right choice.

* * *

**A Shau Valley, Vietnam – 1968**

Klaus Hargreeves wondered at first whether the two thugs in masks had messed him up worse than he’d thought, causing him to hallucinate. There didn’t seem to be any other explanation for the _literal_ war zone he found himself in.

Then again, there was Five, with his tale of jumping into the future and getting stuck, and sending his fifty-eight-year-old consciousness back.

Maybe a time-travelling briefcase wasn’t so far-fetched after all.

And he’d certainly lucked out with the Ken doll he’d landed in front of. Big and buff – otherwise known as Dave – was kind and gentle. He was incredibly patient with Klaus, teaching him everything he would have learnt in Basic, if he’d – you know – actually gone through it.

Gradually, Klaus realised that he was happier here than he’d ever been. The abundance of drugs meant that he rarely saw any ghosts, and those that _did_ make it through meant it was bad enough that he could warn the squad.

Perhaps this was what dear old Reginald had been aiming for, but as he’d prioritised winning – being the best – over everything, then the siblings had never developed the sense of camaraderie that his unit here had, despite the horrendous conditions.

And then, at a disco during some much needed R&R, Dave had placed his warm hand on Klaus’ cheek and kissed him.

Klaus had been kissed before, of course, _a lot_ , but this time felt different. Dave’s mouth was warm and soft, and he touched Klaus as if he’d never done this before (and it turned out later he hadn’t). For the first time, Klaus understood the difference between just fucking and making love.

Because he was _in_ love.

Occasionally, Klaus wondered how his siblings were getting on back home, but otherwise he was content.

He’d finally found a place where he belonged.

* * *

**Dallas, Texas – 1963**

Three years later – or five years earlier, depending on how you looked at it – Klaus had finally, _finally_ been able to see Dave again, even if it was a much younger one than he was used to.

And even if he did get punched in the mouth.

He supposed it really was his own fault – Dave had talked enough about his uncle Brian and his views – but he hadn’t been able to help it. It had been so _long_ since he’d seen Dave, and he missed him.

He missed him.

And he hadn’t been able to say ‘I love you’ before, so he’d just wanted to seize his chance.

But then Dave had punched him, and he’d gone to Allison, but her life was going to shit and her husband had disappeared and—

Everything was just going to shit.

Which perhaps wasn’t surprising when the Hargreeves came together. Because, somehow, they still kept causing the end of the world.

Or rather – Vanya did.

Klaus couldn’t even blame her. Drugged and lied to almost her entire life, told she was ordinary in a group of extraordinary children, not even the _weakest_ of them – that was Klaus – then it wasn’t surprising that her powers were out of control.

But they had overcome that; had _come together_ as a family to defeat the Commission.

And with an abundance of time-travelling briefcases, they could finally go _home_.

He briefly considered going back – going forward – to see _his_ Dave but realised that a version of him was already there, and considering what Luther had said happened to Five when he met his older/younger self…

No, Klaus would return to 2019 with his siblings and try again to summon Dave’s ghost.

He just wanted a place where he _belonged_.


End file.
